HBWnovel Chapter 176 – Mermaid (3)
Chapter 176 – Mermaid (3)
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 176: The Mermaid (3)
‘Where did I see it?’
Was it when I was going through a raid dungeon?
‘I don’t know.’
He couldn’t quite remember.
That was unusual.
Ketal remembered every event he experienced outside.
Not being able to recall something was impossible.
The leader monkey, having filled its belly enough, withdrew.
The other monkeys rushed in.
Crunch, crunch.
In an instant, the large whale disappeared without a trace of bones.
Their appetite was enormous.
The monkeys, with their bellies full, roamed the city again.
Observing them, Aquaz muttered.
“...It doesn’t seem like they’re simply destroying the city.”
Crunch, crunch.
The monkeys were destroying the mermaids’ houses and structures.
But it wasn’t aimless destruction.
They were using the materials to construct a building.
Watching the scene for a moment, Aquaz gasped.
“That’s...”
“They’re building a house. Indeed, the mermaids’ houses are too small for those giants to enter.”
The monkeys were using the materials from the mermaids’ city to build their own homes. Ketal mumbled with an intrigued face.
“It seems they’re thinking of making this place their base.”
The monkeys weren’t just staying temporarily in the mermaids’ city; they were trying to turn it into their own village.
Kukulitan was horrified at this fact.
“Are those creatures trying to take root in our city?”
“It seems so. They’re destroying your houses and building their own.”
“W-Wait a moment. Then what happened to the survivors?”
The mermaids trapped in the city were hiding in the buildings.
But if the monkeys were destroying the buildings to make their own houses, it was uncertain whether the survivors were safe.
“Can we check on them?”
“Um...”
Aquaz had a hesitant face.
The advantage of divinity was its versatility.
In most situations, divinity could solve the problem.
But it wasn’t omnipotent.
The power of the sun god couldn’t locate the hidden mermaids.
Since it was underwater, even mystical detection didn’t work well.
Aquaz looked at Baker, but Baker shook his head as well.
“My magic is specialized for attack. I could sense presences on land, but underwater it’s difficult.”
“Oh...”
The fact that they couldn’t know about the survivors filled Kukulitan’s face with despair.
“Don’t worry. Many are alive.”
Then Ketal spoke.
The content of his light words took them a moment to grasp.
“Alive?”
“The mermaids in the city are alive. They’re hiding among seaweed and coral, avoiding the monkeys’ eyes. There seem to be at least three hundred of them.”
“W-What?”
Kukulitan looked at the mermaids’ city in bewilderment at Ketal’s words.
But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see any mermaids.
He asked with a puzzled face.
“How did you notice that? Did you sense their presence?”
“Of course not. Even I can’t grasp such a large city underwater.”
“Then how...”
“I heard the sounds the mermaids were making.”
“...Pardon?”
“I heard the whispers and movements among them. Counting those sounds, there are at least three hundred. If you include those who are holding their breath, there could be more.”
“...You can hear those sounds?”
“Yes.”
Ketal had a face that asked if there was a problem with that.
“...You’re stranger than those monkeys.”
Baker mumbled quietly in the silence.
* * *
Even Kukulitan, a sea creature, couldn’t hear the mermaids’ sounds.
Yet Ketal, a land-dweller, could hear them.
It was hard to believe.
Kukulitan stammered.
“Are you sure you didn’t mistake other noises for the mermaids’ sounds?”
“Is there a mermaid named Rafarila? She’s staying with another mermaid named Kaimeir, relying on each other. They’re struggling due to a lack of food.”
As she observed the monkey, Aquaz realized one more thing.
“I don’t sense any mystical power.”
These monkeys had such strength purely from their physical bodies.
Unconsciously, she looked at Ketal.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Aquaz quickly averted her gaze.
“Hmm.”
Ketal slowly approached the monkey, getting so close it startled those watching.
Staring at the monkey, Ketal spoke.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ketal.”
[Kiiee!]
The monkey responded with a scream and a swing of its fist instead of words.
“We can’t communicate.”
“How could you expect to communicate with a beast?”
“I had hoped.”
Previously, the Nano they met had been able to communicate.
He had hoped the monkeys might too, but it seemed impossible.
“Baker.”
Baker gathered mana to form a blade.
It rushed toward the monkey, inflicting small wounds all over its body.
[Kiieee!]
Aquaz raised her hand.
“Spear of Light.”
The spear of light pierced through the limbs of the monkey, pinning it to the ground.
The monkey struggled, but the spear held firm.
“With this level of mystic power, I can wound it.”
A sufficiently powerful superhuman could inflict wounds without any problem.
Having finished her rough assessment, Aquaz gathered divine energy and entered the pillar.
The monkey struggled, but it was bound by the spear of light and couldn’t move.
“What are you trying to do?”
“I’m going to use divine energy to understand the monkey’s emotions.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s similar to detecting lies. If it had any mystic power, it could resist, but this monkey doesn’t.”
Aquaz placed her hand on the monkey’s head.
At that moment, the monkey thrashed violently.
It seemed to instinctively sense danger, almost going berserk.
[Screeeeeech!]
Crack!
The monkey’s muscles swelled up.
The spear of light shattered with a scream.
The monkey sprang up and lunged at Aquaz with bared teeth.
“Damn!”
Aquaz hastily gathered her hands to defend, but the monkey’s body was suddenly slammed back down.
Boom!
“Are you alright?”
Ketal had grabbed the monkey’s head and smashed it into the ground.
Aquaz, who had been staring blankly, quickly expressed her gratitude.
“Th-thank you.”
“It seems like a special move, allowing it to momentarily exert greater strength than usual. We need to check this too.”
The monkey struggled and thrashed but couldn’t get up.
As Ketal gauged its strength, he wore a puzzled expression.
He had lived in the Forbidden Lands.
He had even faced beings from the Forbidden Lands outside the white snowfield, like Nano. He thought he had a general understanding of the level of the Forbidden Land.
So he couldn’t help but be puzzled.
‘Is it only this much?’
“Then I’ll continue the examination.”
Aquaz placed divine energy on the head of the monkey that had been smashed into the ground.
After a moment of silent contemplation, Aquaz spoke.
“...I sense various emotions. Anger. Frustration. Hunger. And....”
Aqua’s eyes momentarily wavered.
“Fear?”
At those words, Baker tilted his head.
“It doesn’t look like it’s afraid.”
The monkey, pinned to the ground, continued to thrash about.
No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t seem to be afraid of them.
“...This isn’t a recent emotion. It seems to be quite an old one. ...Why?”
Had there been a situation where this monkey felt fear before meeting them?
A being from the Forbidden Land that had crawled up, ruled the mermaid city for over a month, and reigned as the tyrant of the sea?
It felt fear of something?
It was incomprehensible.
[Translator – Night]
[Proofreader – Gun]